Gold and Silver Prices Plunge on Week, Bullion Coins Weaken

Bullion prices were pounded Friday and that brought most metals further into the red for the week.

April gold prices declined $26, or 1.6%, to $1,609.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices were off $57.40, or 3.4%, on the week.

"The 1,625 level was a big support and once that was broken, stop-selling orders kicked off and now we are in a new range of $1,550 to $1,625," said Adrien Biondi, head of precious metals trading at Commerzbank.

March silver prices dropped 50.4 cents, or 1.7%, to $29.85 an ounce. The white metal was hit hardest among bullion in percentage this week, down 5.1%.

Palladium for March delivery declined $10.90, or 1.4%, to settle at $753.15. It bucked the weekly path of other metals thanks to a strong start earlier in the week. Palladium edged up 0.2% from a week ago.

April platinum dropped $33.20, or 1.9%, to close at $1,677.70 an ounce. The precious metal was off 2.2% this week.

New York bullion prices on the day and their weekly changes follow.

New York Futures – Bullion Prices

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thurs

Fri

Weekly Change
($/%)

Silver Prices

$30.91

$31.02

$30.87

$30.35

$29.85

-$1.59
-5.1%

Gold Prices

$1,649.10

$1,649.60

$1,645.10

$1,635.50

$1,609.50

-$57.40
-3.4%

Platinum Prices

$1,696.10

$1,717.20

$1,729.70

$1,710.90

$1,677.70

-$37.00
-2.2%

Palladium Prices

$758.60

$771.40

$772.05

$764.05

$753.15

$1.65
0.2%

Sales United States Mint Bullion Coins

The buying pace for United States Mint bullion coins also declined sharply this week. The following bullets offer weekly breakdowns and comparisons:

Sales of American Eagle gold bullion coins reached 8,500 ounces for the week, or less than one-third of last week’s total of 34,500 ounces.

Sales of American Eagle silver bullion coins totaled 664,000 for the week compared to last week’s 979,500.

Sales of America the Beautiful 5 oz. silver bullion coins totaled 3,700 coins. Last week the total fell to a minus 460 coins as the United States Mint made negative adjustments.

Bullion products from the United States Mint are listed below. Within the columns are sales by day and for the year-to-date.

Sales of United States Mint 2012 Bullion Coins

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thurs

Fri

2013 Sales

1 oz American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins

0

1,000

2,000

0

4,000

162,500

1/2 oz American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins

0

0

0

0

1,000

19,000

1/4 oz American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins

0

0

0

0

0

28,000

1/10 oz American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins

0

5,000

0

0

5,000

140,000

1 oz American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins

0

1,000

0

0

1,000

75,500

5 oz America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins

1,700

2,000

0

0

0

32,200

1 oz American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins

329,500

129,500

170,000

0

35,000

9,141,500

In numismatic news this week, the last United States Mint product featuring 2012 American Eagle Gold Proof Coins sold out. Last year’s coins mark new mintage lows. And in world bullion news, the Royal Canadian Mint issued its Wood Bison bullion coin, which is the last of the six silver bullion coins in its Canadian Wildlife coin series.

Bullion Prices in London

London precious metals split again Friday and on the week. The only winner on Friday was silver, up 1%. Gold and palladium each lost 2.1%. Platinum dropped the most at 2.8%. For the week, the big loser was gold with its 3.4% loss. The only winner was palladium as it gained 1.1%. Daily price breakdowns follow for Feb. 11-15. The seven-day percent and net changes are also below.